Mechanical stoker.



R. i". STEWART.

:MECHANICALy STOKEB. I APPLICATION FILED JUNZB, 1.909. RBNEWBD SEPT. 27.1911. 1,014,534, f Patented Janis), 1912.

a SHEETS-'FEET 1.

- /J inventos v g4/m" R. P. STEWART. MECHANICAL STOKBR. APPLICATION TILBD JUNE423, 1909. RBNEWED SEPT. Z7, 1911.

f Patented J an. 9, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

.lllllrllllll Snom/Won R. F. STEWART.

MECHANICAL STOKER. AYPLIOATION FILED JUNE 2s, 1909. RBNBWED SH12?, 1911.

"1,014,534, Patented Jan. 9,1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

.l UNITED STATES rATnNT. crimen.

ROBERT IF. STEWART, OF (OMAHA, NEBRASKA; ASSIGNOF ONE-HALF T CHARLIE M l OLDSON, BOTH F GRAND ISLAND, NEBRASKA.

` HABE AND ONE-HALF T0 HARRY N.

MncHA'NrcAL sronnn.

Application led June 23, 194.19,

' To all "whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT F. STEWART,

a citizen of the United States, residing Vat being such as to enable th`e fuel to be di-v rected to any point in the fire box, the force for feeding the fuel being variable according to the distancegof delivery.`

The mechanism vembodies a rotary feeder,

A means for supplying fuel to the rotary feeder lmeans for moving embodymg and consisting of` an endless conveyer, a chute leading from the casing of the rotary feeder, wings at opposite sides ofthe chute and adjustable to any required angle to direct the fuel to one side or the other of the fire box, hoods cooperating with the chute andwings to likewise materially assist in giving proper direction to the fuel, and the rotary feeder into` or out of operative position. u

' For a ,fullunderstanding of the invention,

reference is to be had vto the accompanying drawings and to the following description, in whichcorresponding and like parts are referred to'in the description and indicated r in all the views of the drawings by the same reference characters.

In `the drawings forming a part. of the specifications Figure `1 is a vertical central longitudinal section of a mechanical Stoker the invention showing the same in operative position. 4 Fig. 2 is a horizontal section 'of thev rotary Yfeeder, showing the chute and the wings and hoods cooperating therewith in full lines. Fig. 3 is a side view of the parts illustrated in Fig. 2,"portions` being broken away. Fig. 4 isa side view-of the Stoker showingthe endless conveyer, the

means'for transmitting power from the ro` V tary feeder to the endless conveyer, and the means for moving the rotary feeder into and oo'f operative position.-

he reference letter A a Locomotive engine and B, part of a tender. Thesfront of the furnace is represented at C and thefuel bin or compartment at D.

The conveyer is ,y indicated at E and is Specification of Letters 'atent.

Serial No. 503,891.

`designates part ofuRenewed September 27, 1911.4 Serial No. 651,616.

mounted upon the tendrBand is shown as consisting of a framework 1 and an endless apron or belt 2 supported atits ends upon rollers or sprocket wheels at opposite ends of the framework 1. The conveyer E is of the endless type and'is adapted to be raised and lowered. For this purpose, ya cable 3 is shown, the same being connected to a windlass or drum, not shown, and passing over a suitable guide pulley so as to effect the desired result. The lower end'of the endless conveyer extendsbelow a part ofthe fuel bin or compartment D so as to automatically receive' .the fuel therefrom and deliver the same to the rotary feeder.

The rotary feeder F comprises a drum 4: and'a 'sries of'v blades 5 arranged about the drum in staggered relation `and proie Ling radiallytherefrom. The drum 4 is mo.,- ted upon a sha-ft 6 in such a manner as to rot-ate therewith and is inclosed within a casing 7. -A hopper 8 is provided at the rear of the Horizontally disposed guide rods 12 support the frame 11 and the latter is provided with a cross bar 1.3.in which a threaded opening is formed to receive a feed screw 14 mounted at its .ends in bearings 15. A hand wheel 16 fast to the outer or real: end of the feed screw 14:A provides convenient means for turning the feed screw when 1t is required to move thereon. Wings 17 are providedat opposite sides of the chute 9 and are pivotallyqmounted so as to be moved `laterally at their free ends to direct thefuel to either side of the `fire box orto anintermediate point thereof. vertically arranged rods 18 are mounted at opposite sides of the chute and receive the rear ends of the wings 17, the connection being such as to cause the Wings to move with the rods 18-when the latter are turned. As indicated the upper ends of the rods 18 'are bent to provide handles for convenience of operation when it i-V required to move the casing '7 and is arranged below the upperportion of theA casing t and is adapted to en er the opening 10. in?

Patented J an. 9, 1912.

frame 11 which is mounted to receive a slid- 1 ing movement toward and from the furnace.-

the'frame 11 on the ,rotaryl feeder mounted p Thev outer wheels supporting connecting wings 17 to give proper direction to the fuel. Hoods Gare likewise provided at opposite sides of the chute and are pivotally'mounted the wings 17 in giving proper direction-to the fuel. Each hood consists of an outer member 19 and upper and lowermembers 20, the latter embracing upper and lower sides of the chute and pivotally connected thereto at 21 by bolts or other fastening means. or lforward ends of the members 19 are inwardly curved so as to come to- -gether and vary the effective size of the delivery opening thereby'in a measure regulating the quantity of fuel fed to the furnace in a given time. Vertically disposed rods 22 suitably mounted are provided near their lower ends witharms 23. Each arm has a longitudinal slot 24 into which projects a stud 25 of the adjacent or upper member 20 of the hood. The upper ends of the rods 22 are bent to -provide operatingv handles. Upon turning the rods 22, Vthe hoods are swung upon their pivot supports 21 sc as to cover the delivery end of the chute to a greater or less extent.

The rotary feeder F and the supporting frame 11 are mounted upon the locomotive engine A whereas, the conveyer E is mounted upon the tender B. The forward end of the framework 1 of the conveyer E rests upon an extension of the frame 11, the conn ection beingsuch as toallowy for the swaying and up and down movements of the locomotive engine and tender. The rotary feeder'is adapted to be driven by means of a. donkeyengine mounted upon the locomo- Vt1ve engine or by meansof any other source of power, the same being applied to the shaft 6 by means of gearing 26 or other -power transmission.Y The endless conveyer receives power from therrot'ary feeder and is connected with the lshaft 6 thereof. In order to compensate for the relative movements between the rotary feeder and endless conveyer, the4 power transmission between them must be self-adjusting. The upper forward shaft 27 of the rollerV or sprocket gear wheel 28, which is in vmesh with a gear wheel 29, fast to a shaft 30. A shaft 31 is geared in any suitable way to the shaft 6 so as to receive power therefrom. A shaft section 32 is connected by a universal joint to the shaft 31. A shaft section 33 is connected byva universal joint to -the shaft 30 and telescopes with the shaftv section 32. The means disclosed herein between the two shafts and 27 admit of the rotary feeder and endless conveyer having relative plav with the respective parts A and B.

' When the invention is in operative position. it occupies the position about as shown in Fig. 1, that is, with the end of the chute veither to the front the endless apron 2 isextended at one end and provided with a 9 extended into vthe door openingr 10A of the furnace C. The fuel is automatically supplied to the lower endof the conveyerE and is delivered thereby to the .rotary feeder which, is driven. at such relative speed as to throw the fuel through the chute 9 with vsuch force as to insure its delivery either,

at the rear, the front, or at any intermediate point of the re box. v By proper 'adjustment of the wings 17, the fuel may be directed either to the right orto the left of the fireV box or to the center thereof. Ma-l nipulation of the hoods in the manner wings 17 in properly directing the fuel or of controlling the amount fed to the fire boxin a given time. When it is required to gain access to the furnace, the feed screw 14 is operated to move the frame 11 rearward lthereby carryingjthe rotary feeder clear of the furnace as will be readily understated, 'may supplement the action of the stood. When the fuel is to be deliveredcen- 't trally. of the fire kbox, the wings 17 are' moved so as' to occupy a central position Y the chute `9. If the fuel is `to besupplied to the righthand portion ofthe re box, one or bothl wings 17 are correspondingly inclined to the.A right. To direct the fuel to the left hand portion of the fire box the wings 17 are inclinedtoward the left. When the rotary feeder is operated ata comparativelyl high speed, the fuel is thrown. such the fire box. -By diminishing the speedof the rotary feeder,

with reference to box betweenthe front and the back. It will thus be understood Ithat by properlvregu- 'lating the speed'v v feeder and of the rotarv through the 'chute' v9 .with force as .to reach the back portion of the fuel may be supplied,- or to any part of the-'re 1 adjusting thewings 1.7, are fuel-may be directed to. any part of the fire box.

Having` 1. A mechanical yStoker comprising @a thus described the invention, what. isclaimed, is:

feeder having Aa delivery chute, means arranged within the chute ,for directing the fuel to the desired place' inthe. furnace, a4 ,y I

framework supporting said feeder, vmeans for moving the framework toward 4and from the furnace to advance the feeder or to move the same out pf the Way. a conveyer-for supplying fuel' to the feeder, ,and means-forv moving the conveyer so-as to be outl of the'12o stoker comprising a cas-v 'Y way when access to the par-tais required.

2. A mechanical ing having a deliver;7 chute and a receivin hopper. a rotary feeder arranged within the casing between the chute and hopper, means located inthe chute for giving proper direction to the fuel in its discharge, a supportf ing-framework for the casing, mea-ns' for positively adjusting -'the framew ork toward and from the furnace, a .conveyer movably mounted upon said framework, and power' i transmitting meansbetween the feeder and conveyer whereby both are caused to operate simultaneously at any stage of adjustment of the parts.

3.4 In a mechanical stoker the combination of a feeder,` means for supplying fuel to the feeder and relatively adjustable with reference thereto, a framework supporting the feeder and adjacent end of the fuel supplying means, guides for supporting the framework and directing the same in. its movements, and a feed screw mounted in fixed bearings and having screwthread connection with said framework to move the same backward orforward.

4.-. In a mechanical Stoker the combination of a casing having a chute, a rotary feeder mounted within the casing and adapted to deliver the fuel at a comparatively rapid speed through the chute to throw the fuel into the innermost portion of the fire box7 wings arranged within the chute to direct the fuel tothe right or to the left, hoods comprisinfbT upper and lower members arranged above and below the chute and outer members exterior t the chute and connecting the outer edges of said upper and lower members, the forward portions of the outer members of the hoods curving inwardly, said hoods being pivotally connected to the chute, vertically disposed rods, and slotted arms extended from said rods and having connection with the hoods to turn thelsame about their pivotal connections with the.

RBERT F. STEWART.

Witnesses:

ROY G. KRATZ, CHARME M. Hann. 

